Ice Shards and Fur Balls
by Pichuzilla
Summary: Syaoran's been banned from single figure skating events. With the time he has, he escapes to Japan, hoping to find a solution. The solution is vet Sakura herself. Being a prolific amateur skater, she's asked to help Syaoran achieve his dreams.
1. Chapter 1

Author: This fic is actually taken from my very first story here in fanfiction, The Young Vet and Heir. I got kind of sick looking at something like it, so I decided to make it go under revamp and reconstruction, to make it better and this is what I came up with. I hope you guys like it.

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Blades slicing through ice; glittering ice shards created in the process…people watching them were entirely mesmerized.

Not only ice shards were created, though, but glory as well…

To be famous, is one's dream when on the ice…

And Syaoran Li wasn't a stranger when it came to ice-skating. The chestnut-haired man, aged twenty-seven, pulled off his skates and was only left in his black socks as he got off the rink, only to be greeted by paparazzi from numerous sports channels.

"_Syaoran, Syaoran!! Is it true you're going to retire from competitive figure-skating?"_

"_You had a fight with your last manager, what's going to happen now??"_

"_You're leaving Canada? Would you give any comment on that?"_

The handsome skater had a displeased look on his face. He was annoyed that the media had dared to intrude on his sacrosanct time of practice. "I have nothing to say. Now, if you will please excuse me, I have to go change…" he said quietly; his voice sounding very strange among the excited flurry of questions being thrown at him.

He calmly walked back to the locker room, ignoring the fact that the reporters were still following him. He opened the door, smiling slightly before closing and locking it again upon entering. A large German Shepherd that was obediently sitting on the ground before instantly jumped up and barked happily.

"Hey, Maruda buddy," Syaoran said, kneeling down to rub his dog's fur, "Guess I should bring you to take your shots later, right?"

He got up and walked to his duffel bag, dipping a hand inside and withdrawing a planning dairy from it. Taking a pencil, he flipped it open and started writing in it. "Well, buddy, practice is over, and I'm supposed to be bringing you to the vet next, just like it's written here…" he said to his dog, "It's really better if I don't have a manager. It's annoying, really, to treat me like some kind of celebrity."

The dog whimpered and gave another bark, wagging its bushy tail. Syaoran sighed, dropping the planner back into his bag and started taking off his sweater. "Yeah, well, anyone would like to be a celebrity, but I take ice-skating far more seriously. It's my job, after all."

"Still talking to animals, I see," a quiet, feminine voice, like a female opposite of Syaoran's, said.

Syaoran pulled on a T-shirt before looking at his visitor. "Mother. I assume you got a key from the manager?"

Yelan Li, although already past her prime, still looked quite youthful, with only a few wrinkles from the hard profession of being a monarch handling the large business of the Li Clan, lining her forehead. She was like Madonna, really. "Well, I heard all those questions that those pesky people outside were asking. You're leaving Canada. Is that true?"

Syaoran heaved a heavy sigh, zipping his bag while shrugging a jacket on. "Yes, yes I am."

"Why didn't you tell me? I could've gotten the jet ready for you."

Syaoran grimaced. "No thank you. The last time I got on that jet, I was flown back to Hong Kong, with Meiling waiting for me to take her hand as my bride. I'm not going to fall for that trap again."

The Chinese monarch made a sound of disapproval. "Well, I've supported your dreams of becoming a figure skater for so long, isn't it time you repay me by marrying a suitable woman and producing grandchildren for me?"

Syaoran shivered from the cold glare that his mother seemed to be giving his turned back. "Mother, incest is wrong. She's my _cousin_," he said with exasperation.

"Rubbish!" Yelan barked, "It's a good way of keeping the bloodline pure!"

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "It's not like Meiling's the only girl with no hereditary diseases or anything. There are a lot of girls out there, perfectly healthy!"

"So why don't you have a girlfriend, then, let alone a wife?" Yelan asked in annoyance. She certainly looked like her son when she was annoyed.

"I…haven't found the right girl yet?" Syaoran said, making up an excuse. In truth, he really wasn't interested in a relationship just then. All he wanted to do was to make it into the Winter Olympics, but he couldn't skate by himself anymore, thanks to that no-good lousy excuse of an ex-manager of his.

"We shall talk about this another time then," Yelan said in defeat, before returning to her usual menacing tone, "So, where and why are you going?"

Syaoran clipped a leash onto Maruda's collar. "Japan. Because I felt like taking a break."

"_Also, because to execute __**that plan**__…"_

He started walking towards the door, past Yelan with Maruda following him. "X-Xiao Lang!" she gasped with shock at her only son's blunt words. She was so surprised that she had used his given name, even after Syaoran had told her not to.

"_Or else the paparazzi will stalk and research me until they figure out where I'm from. You won't have much peace at home from then on."_ Was the aloof man's reason.

"And you said you were really serious about skating!" Yelan continued.

Syaoran shrugged, hand on the doorknob. "I am, but what's there to do, until I'm allowed to skate competitively again? Anyways, wasn't it you who always told me to take a break from skating?" he reasoned, "I reckon I deserve a holiday, after all that fuss that bastard of an ex-manager caused."

Yelan's bottom lip trembled with rage. "Holidays usually don't require you to start hunting for apartments to live in, as well as to ship your furniture along with the rest of your belongings!" she hissed angrily, "Are you intending to leave Canada permanently and start residing in Japan!?"

Syaoran gave a small smirk, twisting the knob, opening the door. "That's the plan."

-

A young woman with auburn hair stroked the poodle in front of her lovingly. "Well, Mrs. Takahashi, Cloudy should be okay now!" she said to an elderly woman standing on the other side of the examination table. "If there are any problems, you can just come back here!"

The elderly woman picked up her precious pet, cuddling it like a mother would cuddle her baby. "Thank you, Sakura! You've been a lot of help! I was afraid I'd lose my baby here!"

Sakura giggled girlishly as she saw the woman to the door out of her office. "That dog has more than enough energy in her to keep on living! You're not going to lose her any time soon,"

Mrs. Takahashi bowed in gratitude, her dog still in her arms. "Thank you very much, Sakura. I really mean it."

Sakura laughed again, this time nervously. "It's okay, really. It's my job, after all!"

The woman finally left, still carrying her dog in her arms. Yes, at age twenty-six, Sakura was quite the handler of sick animals. Single, but devoted to her profession – although she had no choice. Her grandfather had left her the clinic, making her feel responsible for looking after it - she was well-liked by all the residents in Tomoeda. She was sweet, hard-working and honest. So much, that sometimes it was really hard to believe that she even existed.

Sakura went to the reception area of her practice. An ebony-haired woman sat at the front desk, mutinously typing on a keyboard. "Hitachi," Sakura called, "It's time for closing up,"

The receptionist pulled her glasses off, halting her work. "Thank you for your good job today!" Hitachi said, smiling as she shut the computer's system down.

"You too," Sakura replied, "Please lock the front door as you go, will you?"

Hitachi nodded, picking up her bag and heading towards the glass doors. "I will. Have a good evening!"

"I will."

Sakura went back into her office, picking up folders as she went and putting them back into a neatly arranged shelf. Then, through another door, she went through a pathway and into a house.

Upon opening the door, a large, forest-coloured Saarloos Wolfhound bounded towards the auburn-haired woman, being lazily followed by a black and white cat. "Nice to see you too, Kohaku, Kuroshiroi," Sakura said, smiling at her faithful friends.

A shrill ringing started, and Sakura did a little sprint towards the phone. "Hello? Kinomoto residence."

"SAKURA!!"

Sakura winced as she held the receiver away from her ear for a few seconds, waiting for the enthusiastic scream of her name to die down. "T-Tomoyo?"

"SAKURA!! YOU'RE DONE RIGHT!?"

Sakura laughed, amused with her friend's tone of voice. "You don't need to shout. I'm here, and I can hear perfectly fine. And yes, I'm off work for today."

"Sorry…" the soft voice on the other line said, "Listen, I made this new skating outfit today, you know, part of my winter collection, so I really wanted to test out its practicability. You know, comfortable and stuff for skaters to wear while performing!"

Sakura was puzzled. "Don't you hire other skaters to do test runs like that?"

"I do! But today's my off-day, and on a stroke of inspiration, I created this dress and I want _you_ to wear it and test it out for me!!" Tomoyo said in a dazed tone. Sakura swore she could hear glittery and shining sound effects in the background, complete with blooming roses.

"Well…I'm not much of a skater, really…"

"Says who? If you had proper training, I'll bet you'll be one heck of a figure skater!"

"I wouldn't count my lucky stars for that. 'Sides, I love my job right now," Sakura said, grinning widely, despite the fact that her friend couldn't see her from the other line.

"Whatever! Just pleaaaase try it out for me? Won't you?" Tomoyo pleaded, "For meee? Your BFF times twenty?"

"Well, I can't say no to that, I guess," Sakura gave in to her best friend, "Meet you in half an hour at the skating rink?"

-

Standing outside the doors into the rink with a pair of worn-out skates in hand, Sakura felt a chill go up her spine. It was a good chill, for she had a brilliant smile on her face. The sight before her was a familiar one too for after all; she practically grew up with skating as a hobby.

Her brother had worked there part-time once, and Sakura had been going to visit him with the intention of joining him for dinner. She was asked if she had tried skating before and with a shake of her head, she had been introduced to the wonders of ice-skating.

At first, it was difficult though. But she caught on quickly, due to the fact that she used rollerblades as a mode of transport very often back then. She mastered the basics, then went on to try the basic skills that a figure skater should have known. Her side-dream was to be a figure skater; something she perceived would never come true.

"Sakura!!"

Sakura was snapped out of her reverie with the call of her name. "Tomoyo!" she waved at the raven-haired beauty running towards her in a hop-skip motion.

"_She sure is excited…"_ Sakura thought, sweat-dropping.

"Dress! Dress!" Tomoyo chanted, dragging Sakura through the entrance, and going into a rented locker room. She held out a bag, giving Sakura what seemed like an out-of-place smirk.

"T-Tomoyo??" Sakura stuttered, spooked by her friend's creepy appearance.

"OHOHOHOHOHO!!" Tomoyo started laughing her trademark evil-witch-laugh, "SAKURA, MY SWEET! YOU WILL LOOK ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL IN MY LATEST MASTERPIECE!! OHOHOHOHOHO!!"

"O-kay…Tomoyo has gone out-of-character mode again…" Sakura thought, slipping out of her dress shirt and putting on the dress that Tomoyo had carefully laid out on the bench before starting her evil-fashion-genius fantasy.

Sakura studied herself in the full-length mirror they had in the room. The dress was a pale blue, with glittering blue rhinestones studded all over and had icy-blue tights to go with it.

"Matching skates too!" Tomoyo cut Sakura's amazement short. The ecstatic fashion designer held up a pair of pale blue skates, also with blue rhinestones studded all over it. "Actually, I wanted to use sapphires, but my mom told me that the outfit would be way too expensive to buy then. So! I decided to use rhinestones!"

"Interes…ting." Sakura said reluctantly, marveling at her friend's wealth and extravagance, although she had known Tomoyo since they were in elementary school.

"Now…" Tomoyo had a predatory glint in her amethyst eyes.

Sakura laughed nervously. "T-Tomoyo…"

Tomoyo leapt at her friend, costume in hand, and Sakura screamed comically.

"TOMOYO!!!!!!"

-

"Th-that was a _very _hazardous experience…" Sakura said weakly with a shiver as she walked to the rink slowly with the skates on.

"Aww, it wasn't _that_ bad!" Tomoyo commented happily with her usual angelic smile.

"_Not that bad!?"_ Sakura thought, an eyebrow twitching as she stepped on ice. She skated on the spot of ice for a few seconds, testing the blades out.

"'Sokay, Tomoyo!" Sakura said as he held two thumbs-up.

"Perfect!" Tomoyo said, delightedly clapping her hands, "Now, do a little routine! Be sure to use the costume's flexibility and practicability to its fullest!"

"_I will…"_ Sakura thought, skating to a more empty space past a couple of staring skaters. She flushed with all the attention she was getting. "Guess not everyone has friends that need you to try on their latest masterpiece, huh?"

With no one in the way, Sakura started a series of jumps, twirls and loops. Creating a little mini-routine in her mind, she started with some serpentine steps, then increasing her speed to do a double axel jump, a triple lutz jump and finishing with a quadruple loop. Doing a circular step routine, she pulled an Ina Bauer move and finalized the testing-performance with a death-drop spin.

Slowing down, Sakura gave a small smile. "Perfect."

She looked up to see Tomoyo skating towards her with amazing speed. Sakura cringed, ready for the crushing impact, which was…

"THAT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL!!" Tomoyo hugged Sakura with all her might. "WONDERFUL!"

"H-hey…no need to get so worked up over a made-up performance like that…" Sakura said, giggling as Tomoyo let go of the vet.

"Sometimes, I wonder why you never thought of going pro," Tomoyo said with a wistful sigh, "All the wonderful costumes I could make for you!!"

Sakura laughed at her friend's comment. "That's absurd! I won't be able to make it as one!" she exclaimed as they started skating out of the rink, "Besides, who's going to look after the clinic I inherited from my grandfather?"

Unbeknownst to the chattering young women, a hazel-haired figure stood at a far edge of the skating rink, eyeing Sakura with amazement.

"At last…I've found what I've been looking for…"

* * *

Author: I seriously hope it's better than the original one.

Luv,

sakura-pichu16296


	2. Chapter 2

Author: Reviews are love!! Thanks a lot!! Sorry for the super-late update, but I'm struggling to keep up with my ridiculously large amount of school work. X-X

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Sakura plopped down in front of her laptop, rubbing at her damp hair with a fluffy towel, watching as the screen loaded and the desktop appear. A window with a pinkish tint popped up, urging her to sign in on Windows Live Messenger.

_-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- has just signed in. _

Sakura moved the pointer and clicked on the Online list.

_RenegadeWolf - Write your own personal message here _

A small smile graced the auburn-haired woman's lips as she clicked on that particular contact's icon and initiated a conversion.

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: Wolfie!! :D**

**RenegadeWolf says: Hey cherry! Haven't chatted to u in a long tym!**

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: And whose fault is that?**

**RenegadeWolf says: Well, things haf been bz ovr at my side. I quit my job and moved elsewhere. **

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: You quit!? :O Why??**

_RenegadeWolf is typing a message…_

Sakura waited as her anonymous friend and confidant typed out his reply. She had met RenegadeWolf – or, as she had grown accustomed to calling him with, Wolfie – on a random conversation website, Omegle, half a year ago.

Tomoyo had urged her to partake in the latest fad because she knew Sakura had been stressed out with the other vet in her clinic suddenly leaving without notice. Knowing she couldn't escape Tomoyo's incessant urging, she decided to waste a whole evening on Omegle to please her best friend.

At first, instead of a better improved mood, every random conversation that she had initiated irked her to no end and almost made her tear her laptop apart. Thankfully, a miracle happened.

_Stranger: Hi_

Sakura had simply stared at the screen.

_You: GODSEND!!_

_You: Finally, a person who doesn't randomly type in 'Sandy Balls' or 'Elephant Peanut Butter Shoe'!!_

_Stranger: Uh…well, I'm glad ur happy? o-o_

And from then on, they kicked off as fast friends. They had exchanged e-mail addresses but remained anonymous to each other. They told each other things that Sakura wouldn't dare tell even to Tomoyo, but a sliver of distrust still lingered.

The internet is a gray zone after all.

-

"Sakura? Someone's here to see you," Hitachi, her receptionist said as she opened Sakura's office door with a knock.

Sakura looked up from the paperwork on her desk. "Is it Tomoyo?"

Hitachi giggled girlishly, which made Sakura raise an eyebrow. "Well, no," she gushed, "He's devastatingly handsome!! Is he your boyfriend?"

Sakura stood up from her chair. "I'm not seeing anyone, Hitachi," Sakura said, a wary look on her face, "Anyways tell him to come in,"

Hitachi backed out and the vet waited as her receptionist went to call the rumored 'handsome man'. Sakura was fiddling with a Rubik's cube Tomoyo had gotten for her when a knock sounded. "Come in," she said, not looking up. She was so close to solving it!

"Twist the third row up horizontally and then vertically clockwise twice,"

Without regarding the deep voice, she did as she was told and miraculously solved the puzzle. "YES!!" she hissed happily.

"Glad you're happy?"

Sakura realized that she had ignored the person who had come to see her. Her cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry! I got sidetracked!" she apologized hastily, "Please, take a seat!"

Sakura had heard, or rather, seen the words that the man had said earlier before.

_'Glad you're happy?'_

Those were one of the first words Wolfie had typed to her half a year ago. A small smile graced her lips as she wondered about her anonymous friend. She hoped that she would be able to converse with him later.

The man – as Hitachi had said – was indeed devastatingly handsome, Sakura decided when she looked up for the first time since he came in. His build was lithe and Sakura could see moderately toned muscles defined by the sleeves of the man's sweater. He had boyishly messy chocolate hair that framed his chiseled jaw and dark, liquid amber eyes.

"Japanese Adonis?" the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Chinese," he corrected in fluent Japanese, "My name is Li Syaoran,"

Sakura wrinkled her nose delicately. "Well, you're quite the narcissist, aren't you?"

Syaoran smirked. "I've been called many things, but never a narcissist,"

"Well, I haven't seen you around here," Sakura said conversationally, "Are you new? Did you just move here? Do you have a pet that you'd like resident veterinarian here to look at?"

"Yes, yes and probably," Syaoran answered smoothly, lacing his fingers together.

Sakura moved her hand towards a drawer, opening it. "Well, just fill out these papers-,"

"I came here to make a proposition actually," hazel eyes pierced into her on green ones from behind clasped hands.

The words dropped onto Sakura's receptive brain like lead. "'Scuse me?"

The Chinese man still had the cocky, sure-fire smirk on his face. "Let me get straight to the point. I'm sure you read the sports section of your daily newspaper?" he asked in a pleasant tone.

"W-well, yes,"

"The first article from two weeks ago on the third of October. Did you read it?"

"How is this getting straight to the point?"

"Never mind what I said! Just try to recall whatever you read."

Sakura tried to recall what she had read two weeks ago. She didn't know why she was complying to whatever this strange Chinese Adonis was telling her to do, but something about him made her do so. "Something about an international skating champion disappearing from Canada, I think,"

"What's that champ's name, huh?"

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, directing her eyes onto the ceiling as if it had the answers. "I distinctly remember it as R-Ri? No, L-Li! Yes, that's it!" she said gleefully, "And the other name was Syao-,"

She fell silent as she trailed off, an incredulous look on her face. "Li Syaoran, yes," Syaoran affirmed, nodding.

Sakura gaped. "You!! You're like, the best of the best!! But you got banned from the single's competition because of undisclosed complications!!" she gasped, "What are you doing here in Japan!? Don't you know the international press community is looking for _you_? They have a_ million dollar reward _for anyone who can provide _information_ leading to you!!"

"A million dollars, you say?"

"What are you doing here!?" Sakura repeated, hissing at him.

A serious look passed over the man's face. "Kinomoto. I need to ask you for a favour,"

Sakura stared at him. "Pardon? How can I help you in any possible way?"

A smirk appeared on his lips once again. "One and a half weeks ago, sixth of October, early in the evening, you were at the local skating rink," Syaoran recited easily, as if he had done so many times, "Wearing a blue skating costume, you performed a raw performance with many moves that no amateur can pull off,"

Emerald eyes regarded the person sitting idle in the chair. "Are you a stalker? Do I have to call the police?"

An annoyed look replaced Syaoran's laconic expression. "What I'm telling you is mere observation!!" he said defensively, "Anyways, I want to join the Toronto Winter Olympics, that's why I'm here to ask you to be my skating partner for the couples' skating event,"

Sakura blinked. "What?"

Syaoran made an exasperated noise. "You're quite the daft one aren't you? Absolutely slow to catch on," he complained, "Heavens know how you can have so much raw talent in skating. I'm asking you to be my partner!"

"Partner?" the dumbstruck woman asked.

"Yes, yes! In professional ice-skating!!"

* * *

Author: So, hope you guys can give your feedback on this! I'd like to write more, but I'm short on time. I'll try updating soon again, but in the mean time, I hope this will serve as a good introduction for their meeting!

Luv,  
sakura-pichu16296


	3. Chapter 3

Author: I'm back! Well, actually I've been meaning to get around with typing the next chapter of this story, but this year was hectic, so everything finally slowed down after the End of Year Exams. It's the end of the school year now, so I'm taking it easy with writing! Oh yes, and thank you for your encouraging reviews! I'm sorry if this chapter's a bit sloppy; my writing's a bit rusty.

Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own CCS. If I did, there are a bunch of fanfictions I would love to buy and see turned into anime!

* * *

"I'm telling you, 'Moyo! That guy was Creepy with a capital 'C'!" Sakura lifted the fork she was holding and guided the strawberry impaled onto its prongs into her mouth. "Shupah chweepy!" she mumbled while chewing the juicy fruit.

The cordless phone expertly clamped between her left ear - Sakura had a belief that having phone conversations with the right ear subjected her to many times more of radiation - and shoulder tilted dangerously as Sakura fidgeted in the chair she was sitting on. It was only a few hours after the eccentric Li Syaoran had left, saying the overused phrase of _"I'll be back, Kinomoto,"_after Sakura had flatly given him a refusal for his proposition.

Straight after work, Sakura had shed her work clothes in favor for her striped cotton shorts and a plain colored tee and grabbed the bowl of chilled strawberries from her refrigerator, thumb expertly jabbing the long-memorized phone number of Tomoyo's.

"Well, Sakura, it's not like he asked you to marry him," the soft, lilting voice of Tomoyo drifted into Sakura's ear, "All he did was ask you to be his ice-skating partner,"

Emerald eyes widened. "He basically confessed to _stalking _me!" she shrieked into the phone as the fork-wielding hand stabbed the fork into another strawberry, "I mean, how can you just go up to some person whom you have no connections with and tell her a blow-by-blow of everything that happened on a random day of her life?"

Sakura could see the wince on her best friend's face in her mind's eye as she heard a reluctant sigh from the other end. "Sakura, he probably asked the manager of the rink for your name," the level-headed fashionista reasoned, "And there are people who happen to have excellent memories,"

"Such as yours, I suppose," Sakura grudgingly accepted Tomoyo's explanation, "But still! Just coming in and letting his mouth run away with stupid ideas is just-!"

"That's what I'd label as passion," Tomoyo interrupted with a firm tone.

"Passion?" Sakura blinked in surprise at Tomoyo's assertion. What did passion have to do with Syaoran's disturbing and unfathomable words? "Didn't you say he's not in love with me?"

Sakura pulled the phone away from her ear by a little distance as a heavy sigh of exasperation crackled from Tomoyo's line. "I did not say that. I said- never mind. What I meant was, Sakura, is that you said that he was banned from the singles skating events or something like that, right?"

Sakura nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Well, correct me if I'm mistaken, but his going to great lengths to search and ask for somebody to be paired with him for the pairs skating event is a clear show of his love for ice-skating, isn't it?"

Sakura chewed on the tip of her thumb thoughtfully, the fork abandoned in the half-empty bowl of strawberries. "Don't ask me," came the half-hearted mumble, "I'm not passionate about ice-skating,"

On the other end, the raven-haired woman was shaking her head dejectedly. Sakura could fool everyone else, including herself, but when it came to pulling the wool over the person who had recorded almost all of Sakura's escapades since she was a little girl in the first grade, it was an impossible task.

"Sakura, just think of it as a chance of a lifetime. Experience life to its fullest, you know?" Tomoyo's tone was encouraging; almost pleading, but Sakura didn't catch on to it. "Don't stay chained to the profession that you had no choice but to take on. Forget about everything that has happened, and look forward for golden opportunities,"

A satirical look passed over Sakura's face at her friend's assertion. "At this point, Li's proposition seems more like an eenie-meenie-minie-mo pick. I happened to be the poor tiger caught by its toe but when I hollered, he never let go," she said drily, "The man probably has a stack of proxies somewhere in the drawer of his desk, just in case I happen to die or something."

Tomoyo made a loud noise of disapproval. "Don't say such despondent words, Sakura!" her tone was berating, "Didn't you say so yourself? He didn't let go, when you hollered. That means he's set on making you his partner, 'Kura,"

"Oh yippee," Sakura mockingly threw her free hand up in the air and waved it around.

"Yippee what?" a deep baritone voice startled the young woman.

Sakura's eyes shot up to see a dark-haired man standing in front of her, holding a briefcase in one hand and an olive-green coat in the other. "Touya!" she pulled the phone away from her ear to get a better look at the man. "You're back!"

"Sakura?" Tomoyo's voice was soft and distant as Sakura hastened to pull it back to her ear.

"Tomoyo? Sorry, but I gotta go now. Touya just came home,"

"Touya? Tell him I said hi!"

"Gotcha," Sakura ended the call and placed the phone back into its cradle and stood up.

Touya's cognac eyes narrowed and a corner of his mouth curved up into a teasing smirk. His hair was mussed from the chilly winds of autumn; his tanned cheeks bitten to a slight pink hue from the signs of an early frost. Despite his not saying anything, it was clear, as a look passed between the Kinomoto siblings, that Touya was in his Mock-Sakura mode. Sakura's upper lip curled into a snarl.

Touya lifted a dark eyebrow; the smirk still on his face as he unwound his scarf from his neck. "I see you haven't lost the skill to make that ugly expression while I was gone," he commented, "How many times a day do you practice it? Four? Five? Maybe even ten?"

His words grated painfully against Sakura's nerves. For the past six months, Touya had been away abroad, doing work in a hospital in a foreign country, so Sakura hadn't been on the receiving the brunt of Touya's teasing and mocking. Now the titian-haired woman clearly remembered why she'd been in a partially celebratory mood when she had last seen him strolling into the airport terminal all those months ago.

"Only a few minutes back and you're already being a jerk?" Sakura growled through clenched teeth.

Touya shrugged, still smirking. "Well, it's not like anyone can help 'being a jerk' when they see you," He made sure to air-quote as he purposefully strode into the living room, Sakura trailing after him.

"You're the only one with that opinion!" Sakura shrieked as she stomped towards the sofas and plopped down on one, arms defiantly folded across her chest.

"Don't stomp; Japan has enough natural earthquakes as it is," Touya grinned sadistically as he joined his sister on the sofa, placing his briefcase on the coffee table and leaning back into the plush furniture.

The younger woman made a move to stomp on her brother's foot, but Touya's reflexes smoothly moved the limb out of harm's - in the name of Sakura - way, and the older man gave his sister another smirk. Sakura made a snarling noise as she seethed, shooting her brother with pointed glares.

If looks could kill, Sakura wouldn't hesitate to off her brother at this point.

A moment's silence passed. Albeit words weren't exchanged, it wasn't the least bit uncomfortable. Both Sakura and Touya, although they didn't want to admit it, enjoyed each other's company, and often sat together in silence, thinking about nothing and merely staring off into space, having a moment's peace together.

"So, what were you talking about with Tomoyo? It sounded pretty serious from the way you were grousing like a half-dead pig,"

Leave it to Touya to ruin the atmosphere. "I. AM. NOT. A. HALF. DEAD. PIG!"

"So, what was the conversation about?" Touya chose to ignore Sakura's indignant words.

This time, Sakura chose to think before saying anything. Telling him about the Chinese ice-skater was a definite negatory, because Touya would definitely grab the nearest kitchen knife and go on a manhunt to chop the other man into millions of tiny pieces once he got Li's name and address.

Sakura preferred boring headlines about political delegates visiting foreign countries to make yet another peace treaty on the newspaper instead of homicidal big brothers slaughtering disgraced ice-skaters, thank you very much.

"How PMS sucks and how it's worse when you work with animals," Sakura lamely replied, averting her eyes away from the intense look in Touya's sharp eyes. "It's an old woman's myth; supposedly it's bad feng shui or something," she added as an afterthought, remembering Touya was well-versed in the inner workings of the human body, being a doctor.

If Sakura had difficulty lying to Tomoyo, it wasn't even worth attempting to do so when it came to Touya. Having watched over his sister from the distance, Touya was also well-versed in the ways of Kinomoto Sakura, if not better than Tomoyo.

Also, it didn't hurt that it was basic knowledge that Sakura wouldn't look you in the eye if she was lying.

Touya sighed. "You always did like to talk about stupid things," he gave her a lopsided grin as he got up from the sofa, "Especially when you believe in them. Too naive, I say,"

Sakura poked out her tongue at her brother, making a face. "You suck!"

"Not as bad as you."

xxxx

**RenegadeWolf says: Hey Cherry!**

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: Wolfie! (:**

**RenegadeWolf says: How was work?**

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: Some creepy dude came in today and started spouting random rubbish.**

**RenegadeWolf says: :O What did he say?**

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: Details aside, he basically admitted to stalking me.**

**RenegadeWolf says: Whoa. That's just… illegal. It ****_is_**** illegal, right?**

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: I have no idea x.x How was your day? Better than mine, I bet?**

**RenegadeWolf says: Hardly. D:**

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: Too bad. ): What went wrong?**

**RenegadeWolf says: I tried recruiting someone, but she blatantly refused all of my offers.**

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: …Are you sure you weren't just trying to pick up some girl?**

**RenegadeWolf says: I'm hurt that you would actually consider me doing that! ;-;**

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: JKJK! Why were you recruiting her anyway? What for?**

**RenegadeWolf says: This career-oriented project - more of an idea, really - that I came up with.**

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: Oh! Looking to jumpstart your dead career again?**

**RenegadeWolf says: I've been warming the seat up too long.**

**-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: Well, good luck! I'll be rooting for you!**

xxxx

A gentle breeze stirred, making a solitary amber-coloured leaf snap off its branch and float down, landing in between the pages of a file. Sakura plucked out the leaf, setting it aside as the other hand reached up to her neck to adjust the scarf. She sighed despondently as her eyes rested on the filed papers again.

A day off work usually found the animal doctor either in the food district trying out new desserts with Tomoyo or at the zoo, visiting past patients for the fun of it. But today, Sakura had no time for either, as she was seated on a wooden bench in the empty Tomoeda Park, worriedly staring at the various work-related complications on the papers her secretary-receptionist, Hitachi, had given to her.

_"Sakura, the accountant just finished and left. I'm afraid that the balance for this month doesn't look too good…"_

_"What? Let me see!"_

And they had barely raked together enough money to be called a profit. Any less and they would be seeing an overdrawn account.

The reason why Sakura and Hitachi were the only employees at the clinic was because there wasn't enough in the budget to hire more people and the overhead maintenance required for the vastly expensive equipment as well as medicine didn't come cheap, either. It also didn't help that the clinic didn't receive more than two or three visitors a day; five, if they were lucky.

Sakura let out another gloomy sigh, and a soft whimper from beside her alerted the young woman. Sakura looked at Kohaku with a smile as her canine friend nosed her palm, clearly concerned about its owner's lack of exuberance.

"You know, my mother always did say taking up animal medicine is career suicide," a disturbingly familiar baritone spoke, "She likened it to the _only _profession that has people who sincerely love it; not because they need the money and the job doesn't require a doctorate,"

Sakura jumped in her seat, visibly startled. She whipped her head around, narrowing her worried expression into an irritated glower.

"Li."

The cocky eccentric from two days before stood behind her, a corner of his lips curved into a smug smile. It made Sakura wonder if Syaoran was a man who found many things to be ludicrous and saw the need to make a mockery out of everything, or the cocky smirk was his natural smile. She was willing to bet on the former, but the latter didn't look to bad, either.

"Kinomoto," he regarded the younger woman with a nod, "I see you're out enjoying today's beautiful weather! Hardly a ray of sun, a horrendously close-to-icy temperature with a promise of a light blanket of early snow. Lovely!"

The former. _Definitely _the former.

"Go away. I don't have the time to be entertaining foolish athletes like you," Sakura growled. She nudged her dog. "Kohaku, chase that horrible man away,"

The wolfhound paid no heed to its mistress's words as it bounded towards the chocolate-haired man, barking in happy delirium as Syaoran bent down to pet its head. Kohaku saw this as an invitation to slobber the man's hand with its doggy drool, possibly sniffing out invisible dog treats from his person. "Hey there! Your owner's not as friendly as you are, huh? PMS, you reckon?" Syaoran grinned at Kohaku as it continued to sniff into his coat pockets.

Sakura's mood worsened at the sight of her supposed best friend betraying her peace for a few pats on the head. How dare he talk about feminine matters that didn't even concern him!

"Some man's best friend you are," Sakura muttered as she shot the canine a dirty look, who in turn merely barked in a joyful response.

"You're no man, are you?"

Syaoran grinned as he stood up straight again, shoving his hands into his pockets. "So, I've been told that I have exceptional sight," he commented brightly, "And I am a believer of what I see."

"I'd expect no less from a self-absorbed narcissist like you."

"Well! You speak as if you know me well!"

"Hardly," Sakura snorted, "I'd prefer to not know you at all, thank you very much,"

Syaoran seated himself beside Sakura, requiring no invitation to do so. Sakura shot him a glare as she possessively stuffed the file back into her tote bag, cradling it protectively with palpably hostile suspicion.

Seeing the woman's distrust of him, Syaoran rolled his eyes. "I see you have never learnt the art of subtleness."

"I saw no need for it the past, and I see no need to do so in the future."

"Athletes do get paid decently, you know. There's the appearance fee, sponsorship contract fee, endorsements - which I bet we'll be vied for - and allowance from the AA when we're deemed championship material - which, with proper training from me, you will be,"

Sakura's head turned so fast, her neck nearly snapped off. "Don't peg me as some avaricious person that can be bought out by money! I'm not that cheap!"

"And yet, you're making a money-related form of expression to yourself," Syaoran mused, an expression of quiet interest on his face, "But, that wasn't what I was insinuating. I happen to know that your'e having financial difficulties, and a side-job like ice-skating would be good leverage for a while until your clinic gets back on its feet,"

Red. Sakura saw red. She was extremely livid now. Did he really have to poke that abnormally large nose of his into what didn't concern him? "What I say is not in your place to correct," she seethed, clenching her teeth together.

"Then think of it as an act of random kindness for a stranger. You help me get into ice-skating again, your karma points will get a definite bonus!"

"I said no the first time, and I'm saying again! I don't care if I'm going to Hell!"

"But I doubt that's what you should be saying when your clinic is in the red zone, don't you thi-?"

_SLAP!_

The sound echoed faintly in the park, then was drowned out by the slight rustle of the wind picking up. A red mark in the shape of Sakura's hand appeared on Syaoran's cheek. Surprise was written all over the Chinese man's face; his liquid brown eyes wide open in shock and his lips slightly parted upon the impact. His lips moved to speak, but no words formed on his tongue.

He had been rendered absolutely speechless.

"If you want a goddamn partner then go look elsewhere!" Sakura screamed, her face red from the anger of her boiling blood, "I am not going to provide charity for some insensitive bastard who doesn't know how to keep his nose out of other people's business!"

Grabbing the whimpering Kohaku's leash and her bag, Sakura began to angrily stomp her way out of the park. With the full intent of not turning back, it was a surprise when six quiet words made the woman stop in her tracks.

_"I just wanted to skate again."_

* * *

Author: Yikes! Sakura loses her temper with Syaoran! Syaoran utters unexpected words! What will happen next? (I've always wanted to do that! :D) Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

Luv,

sakura-pichu16296


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